PDP faction led by Turaki to endorse Jonathan as 2027 presidential candidate

The Kabiru Turaki‑led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced that it will hold a special convention on Saturday to formally ratify former President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

The announcement was made in an invitation issued late Thursday and signed jointly by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Emebong, and National Organising Secretary, Hon. Theophilus Dakas Shan.

According to the invitation circulated on the party’s social media platforms, the ratification ceremony will take place at the A Class Event Centre in the Wuse 2 area of Abuja and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

The planned ratification follows a recent court judgment that confirmed Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.

In recent months, the Kabiru Turaki faction has intensified efforts to persuade Jonathan to join the presidential race. On May 19, the faction announced that the former president would be its sole presidential candidate for 2027 after he reportedly failed to appear before the party’s presidential screening committee for two consecutive days.

After the second day of the screening exercise, a member of the Presidential Screening Committee, Babangida Aliyu, told journalists that Goodluck Jonathan had been cleared as the party’s sole presidential aspirant. Aliyu said the party’s leadership had granted Jonathan the necessary waiver to participate in the primary process.

“As you know, the party had already given a presidential aspirant the waiver. Like I said in the beginning, he was a deputy governor, became governor, became vice‑president and became president. So, we didn’t see anything that needed screening. Therefore, the party had given him a waiver. In other words, he had been declared as the candidate of PDP for the presidential election,” Babangida Aliyu said.

Despite the claims by the Kabiru Turaki faction, Goodluck Jonathan has yet to publicly confirm whether he intends to return to active presidential politics or contest the 2027 election. His participation at the planned ratification convention on Saturday therefore remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, another faction of the PDP recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and reportedly backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, adopted former national lawmaker Sandy Onor as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election earlier this week.